


Headroom

by venort



Category: Pacific Rim
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 19:10:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4533777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venort/pseuds/venort
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the days after the war, Newt and Hermann find themselves both closer and further apart-- and Hermann's plan to introduce his boyfriend to his wife over a working lunch in the Shatterdome's canteen doesn't quite go as he'd hoped.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Headroom

**Author's Note:**

> Formatting might be a little screwy here-- I'm not 100% certain of what's standard for fanfic. If this is a touch hard to follow as a result, I apologise.

Even with the war over, the Shatterdome's mess hall still felt the same.

 

After all, not everyone had anywhere to go back to: the Kaiju, although finally gone, had left their mark on the world. The Pentecost Memorial Shatterdome (by no means its official name, although it hadn't been called anything else for some time yet), once the last hope for humanity, had become home to those displaced, primarily from Hong Kong.

 

Still, that didn't mean there were no longer any familiar faces.

'I'm telling you, Hermann, it's not over yet,' Newt said, between mouthfuls of food. He hadn't yet sat down: he carried his tray with one hand and picked at his meal with a fork held in the other. 'They opened one tear, they can open another.'

'See, Vanessa?' Hermann noted, turning to the woman beside him: tall and striking, her light brown skin and tight curls of black hair were turning more than a few heads. She carried both her husband's tray and her own. 'Still a Kaiju groupie, even having seen one up close.'

 

Vanessa's arrival had come as something of a surprise to half of the base's staff, truth be told: Hermann hadn't mentioned he was married to anyone save for Newt and Pentecost. Vanessa had spent the last days of the war in Switzerland, having been part of the rush to flee England in the aftermath of the second Kaiju attack in Manila. Once it became clear that K-Day wasn't an isolated incident, beachfront property suddenly wasn't quite the attraction it once was.

 

'You were inside my mind, dude,' Newton said, taking a bite out of something that may well have been beef as he scanned the room for a table with enough seats for them. 'You've seen them how I see them. Not even a little awe?'

'None,' Hermann replied. 'Although I must say your mother was an excellent opera singer. It's unfortunate you didn't know her better.'

 

Newt fell silent: he didn't realise exactly how much Hermann had seen. That said, he'd seen plenty enough himself, although he understood very little: he knew only a few words of German.

'Congratulations,' he decided, turning to Vanessa. 'On your baby.'

'We haven't told anyone yet,' Hermann hissed, taking a seat and resting his cane across his knees.

'How did you...' Vanessa said, sitting down across from her husband and setting down both their trays. 'I thought we managed to hide it so well...'

'I was in his mind,' Newt explained, sitting beside Hermann on the edge of the bench. 'Don't worry, I looked away during the exciting parts, but I saw a couple conversations. Have you thought about names yet?'

'No,' Vanessa said simply.

'And when we do, "Newton" will not come under consideration,' Hermann snapped. The two K-Scientists were undeniably closer after Drifting with one another in the final hours of the Kaiju war, but that didn't mean they never argued.

'Hermann, Chill,' Newt said, stuffing a forkful of something grey into his mouth. 'I was going to suggest Stacker.'

'I... oh,' Hermann said. He glanced up at his wife.

'From what you've told me of him, he sounded a good man,' Vanessa said sadly. 'I almost wish I could have met him-- but we agreed I was best off as far from here as possible, during the war. If you want, Hermann...'

'Stacker,' Hermann nodded, his voice strained: he was making an effort not to cry. Pentecost's

'What about for a girl?' Vanessa asked.

'Luna,' Hermann said, without the slightest hint of indecision. 'Pentecost's sister. I never knew her, but... he spoke highly of her.'

'What happened to her?' Vanessa asked.

'San francisco,' Newt said sadly. 'She was a pilot.' His viewpoint may not have brushed off on Hermann, but the reverse had happened, to a degree: he'd experienced Hermann comforting Vanessa after the loss of her mother, who had been vacationing in Sydney when--

'So,' Hermann said, interrupting Newt's train of thought. 'It's... decided, then. Stacker for a boy; Luna for a girl.'

'They're going to have one hell of an uncle,' Newt smiled.

'Actually--' Hermann hesitated. 'Vanessa and I have been talking. Seeing me from your point of view, and how you feel about me-- it made me realise there were words for how I felt, too. I must admit it came as something of a-- shock, at least at first.'

'Not easy for a married man to admit he's developed feelings for someone else,' Vanessa said, smiling a disarming smile. 'But truth be told I was ready for something like this happening-- war can bring people together, I guess, especially when we're all on the same side, for once. Hermann and I have talked about his feelings for you since I arrived here.

'Truth be told, I went through the same thing-- Hermann isn't the only bisexual at this table, after all.'

Newt had set his fork down, and was beginning to turn red. He'd hoped Hermann hadn't noticed how much of his side of the Drift had involved them working together-- or any of the other men he'd dated over the past few years.

'Relax,' Vanessa said, smiling: suddenly, Newt realised exactly how her modelling career had taken off. 'I'm fine with it-- it just means Stacker or Luna will have one more parent, when they arrive.'

 

Hermann took a great deal of pleasure in Newt's sudden loss for words. The last time this had happened, the anti-Kaiju wall around Sydney had been breached and thousands had died.

'Hermann, dear?' Vanessa noted. 'Your food is going cold.'

'Not actually a bad thing, man,' Newt said. 'You haven't been here long enough to try the meals we had to put up with, these past few months.'

'You seem to enjoy it well enough,' Vanessa noted.

'Newt's tastes fall firmly into the category of garbage,' Hermann stated.

Vanessa smiled at them once more. 'Except in men.'

This time it was Hermann's turn to blush. 'Can we-- talk about something else, dear?'

'Dears,' Newt said. Turning to Vanessa, he added, 'hey, if I'm with your husband now, does that mean we're married, too?'

'No,' Hermann snapped. 'No, it does not.'

Vanessa merely smiled. 'We'll see.'

She glanced over her shoulder at the table behind them, crowded with mechanics, now suddenly out of work without a Jaeger to work on-- in the middle of which sat two people, a man and a woman, in matching outfits. 'Looks like you two aren't the only ones to find love in the midst of all this.'

'What,' Hermann said, 'Raleigh and Mako?'

'Yeah, Lady Danger's pilots aren't a couple,' Newt said. 'Mako's aromantic, so that whole thing doesn't suit them. They're a little more than platonic, but they're not seeing each other.'

Setting down his fork, Hermann frowned at him. 'How did you know they were aro?'

'Mako talked to me about it a few months ago,' Newt said. 'She figured I was, too, and wanted someone to-- wait, no.'

Hermann nodded. 'That was me. She spoke to me.'

'My husband the demiromantic.' Vanessa finally tried her food, and immediately regretted doing so.

'Sorry, Hermann,' Newt mumbled. 'Being inside each other's heads confuses things a little sometimes, I guess.'

Hermann nodded. 'I must admit, I've woken up once or twice with regrets not my own.'

'You want my opinion on all this?' Vanessa asked, regarding them both. 'Hermann and I have been in one another's heads for years now-- ever since we were engaged.'

Newt nodded. 'Hey, I saw that. I didn't recognise the spot, but it meant a lot to you two, right?'

'My parents' house in Stuttgart,' Hermann stated.

'Anyway,' Vanessa continued, 'what I'm trying to say here is that Hermann and I have been in one another's heads for a long time.  
'Right now, I'm just glad of the company.'

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was actually just a plain ol' Newmann fic that Vanessa happened to be present for-- but after going through her wiki page (as I had Newton and Hermann's, hence the inclusion of Newt's mother, among other things), I felt like I could do a little more here by including what aspects of her character are already known (such as her quick wit).
> 
> Then it was just a matter of figuring out everyone's orientations-- and throwing in a mention of QP aromantic Mako and Raleigh just for the hell of it.


End file.
